I've read a fair amount of books in my life, but I'm always bored with them. The only books I've actually enjoyed were Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and Prey by Michael Crichton.

I'm looking for books that have a similar Sci-Fi/Futuristic theme to it, without being cliched like the million and one Sci-Fi books that are just another Star Trek ripoff (At least that's how it feels to me).

I've tried reading other books by Crichton, and none of them have really interested me (Except Timeline, which I'll read when I get unlazy). Bradbury is alright, but nothing matches Farenheit 451.

1984 looks fantastic, and I like George Orwell as a writer (Who hasn't read Animal Farm?). I'll definitely be picking that one up when I have some spare cash.

After looking both books up on Wikipedia, I discovered that my taste in novels is Dystopian Fiction.

What about Prey though; Are there any other books like that? I liked the way they combined programming ideas with what is going on in the story. It kept me interested even through the boring explanations.

I have tried about four times to read a Clockwork Orange... I just cant get past this new language he's using.. I can read it, sure.. but Ive got no idea whats happening. One day Ill have to try when Ive got a full day to spare just to think through every sentence and figure out what these bloody kids are doing. Clearly, Ive only read the first few chapters and Im not really sure what happened in them anyway.

Of course I could just skip the book and try the movie, Ive heard its good.

She only looked away for a moment, and the mask slipped, and you fell. All your tomorrows start here.
-Neil Gaiman

I am a huge fan of dystopian fiction. Lemme take a look at my shelves and list all the good stuff I've got there.

In the order in which I found them on my shelves:
- /The Stand/ by Stephen King (post-apocalyptic)
- /House of the Scorpion/ by Nancy Farmer (I think it was dystopian; read it ages ago)
- /The Giver/ by Lois Lowry (a softer dystopia and written for children but very, very good)
- /1984/ by Orwell (already mentioned but I remention it and note that it is my favourite book ever)
- /Anthem/ by Ayn Rand (lots of people seem to hate her; I've never read anything else by her but I really liked this)
- /This Perfect Day/ by Ira Levin (out of print and hard to find but absolutely worth the twenty dollars I spent on this crumbling paperback, and possibly the second-best book I have ever read)
- /Brave New World/ by Aldous Huxley (one of those awesome dystopias disguised as utopias)
- /Feed/ by M.T. Anderson (about the future where everyone has the internet implanted directly in their heads)

Pebbles wrote:I have tried about four times to read a Clockwork Orange... I just cant get past this new language he's using.. I can read it, sure.. but Ive got no idea whats happening. One day Ill have to try when Ive got a full day to spare just to think through every sentence and figure out what these bloody kids are doing. Clearly, Ive only read the first few chapters and Im not really sure what happened in them anyway.

Of course I could just skip the book and try the movie, Ive heard its good.

You have to wade your way through the sentences slowly to really understand what is going on. I consider myself a fairly good reader, and even I find myself going back and re-reading sentences because I didn't think I fully understood what was going on. By the time you hit chapter 6 you'll be able to interperet what they're saying enough to comprehend what is going on.

And Peter Straub. If you liked the Talisman, you might like his stuff. Try:

-Julia-Ghost Story-Houses Without Doors (short stories)-Mystery

Those are all pretty darn good.

I don't know why I didn't mention Straub there. The Talisman made me pick up a few of his books to see how his solo voice varies from King. They worked very well together on The Talisman, and I can't wait to read Black House.

~Some people are like Slinkies - not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you push them down the stairs.

Pobega wrote:I've read a fair amount of books in my life, but I'm always bored with them. The only books I've actually enjoyed were Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and Prey by Michael Crichton.

I'm looking for books that have a similar Sci-Fi/Futuristic theme to it, without being cliched like the million and one Sci-Fi books that are just another Star Trek ripoff (At least that's how it feels to me).

I've tried reading other books by Crichton, and none of them have really interested me (Except Timeline, which I'll read when I get unlazy). Bradbury is alright, but nothing matches Farenheit 451.

Any ideas?

I've read a lot of Dean Koontz over the years, some of his stuff was pretty good. There are a few books with the same main character who has that rare disease where he can't go out in the sun. "Fear Nothing" is one of them. The creatures in it are more supernatural than futuristic, but I really enjoyed it. "Seize the Night" was the other novel with him in it.

Other than that, before the past 3 years when I started having kids and didn't get enough time to read, I read a lot of Mystery Novels (Mary Higgens Clark - Lisa Gardiner)

I haven't read any new stephen king in like 10 years! LOL

Hopefully one day soon I will have more time to catch up on my reading. There are tons of books on our shelves I have yet to read. Like the last 4 books in the WOT... and the entire Dune series including the ones Herbert's son wrote. And several other mysteries my mother sent me.

sunkistbabe1 wrote:I haven't read any new stephen king in like 10 years! LOL

Here's what you've missed between 2007 and 1997:

1997: Hearts in Atlantis. An absolutely beautiful book featuring interwined narratives about the sixties.
1998: Bag of Bones. Hands down, one of the best books he's ever written.
1999: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. (A very, very excellent "little girl lost" story, with some nifty supernatural overtones.
2000: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. One of the best and smartest books on writing I've ever read.
2001: Dreamcatcher. (An incredibly well-written plot-mashup... a little bit like War of the Worlds meets The Big Chill.)
2001: Black House (with Peter Straub), the sequel to The Talisman; a very different but still very, very good book.
2002: From a Buick 8 (one of King's most lyrical and original stories in years. Doesn't even take place in Maine. :p)
2002: Everything's Eventual, a fantastic book of short stories. I don't think there's a dud in the bunch (14 of them all told); proof that in this form, at least, King only gets better with age.
2004 (give or take 30 years): The end of the Dark Tower series, which, warts and all, is probably the best fantasy (/horror/science-fiction/western/whatever) novel-in-parts since The Lord of the Rings.

I'm a huge King fan, but these are the 9 best things he did in the past 10 years (which, King being as prolific as he is, means I am leaving some stuff behind--most notably his most recent three, unfortunately).

sunkistbabe1 wrote:I haven't read any new stephen king in like 10 years! LOL

Here's what you've missed between 2007 and 1997:

1997: Hearts in Atlantis. An absolutely beautiful book featuring interwined narratives about the sixties.1998: Bag of Bones. Hands down, one of the best books he's ever written.1999: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. (A very, very excellent "little girl lost" story, with some nifty supernatural overtones.2000: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. One of the best and smartest books on writing I've ever read.2001: Dreamcatcher. (An incredibly well-written plot-mashup... a little bit like War of the Worlds meets The Big Chill.)2001: Black House (with Peter Straub), the sequel to The Talisman; a very different but still very, very good book.2002: From a Buick 8 (one of King's most lyrical and original stories in years. Doesn't even take place in Maine. :p)2002: Everything's Eventual, a fantastic book of short stories. I don't think there's a dud in the bunch (14 of them all told); proof that in this form, at least, King only gets better with age.2004 (give or take 30 years): The end of the Dark Tower series, which, warts and all, is probably the best fantasy (/horror/science-fiction/western/whatever) novel-in-parts since The Lord of the Rings.

I'm a huge King fan, but these are the 9 best things he did in the past 10 years (which, King being as prolific as he is, means I am leaving some stuff behind--most notably his most recent three, unfortunately).

But, seriously. Get reading, man.

I think I own bag of bones and dreamcatcher (saw the movie - wanted to read the book first tho - oh well)

Haven't read the Dark Tower series yet, we did buy them a while back from a used book store, but didn't get around to them.

Unfortunately, the first year after the girls were born I didn't do much besides try to squeeze in sleep because I was getting up a couple times a night ... and trying to work part time from home at the same time. But now they sleep much better so I'm getting in as much as I can...

digitalc wrote:Crichton's The Terminal Man is really good. Have you tried any William Gibson? Neuromancer is my favorite.

Yeah, I was going to suggest that in addition to all the traditional dystopian stuff, he might try some cyberpunk. Maybe Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson, but then again, I don't know how much a non-reader would enjoy that.

yellie wrote:Confession: I just had to look up the word ubiquitous because I kept seeing it all over the place and had no idea what it meant.

I did say some of his stuff was pretty good. I remember the odd book that after several chapters I was soooooo bored I just gave up. But I did read a lot of his books, this is also back in High School when I had more time to read. Now I pick and choose my books carefully because I dont have time to read a crappy one.